$7.9 million doled out in state grocery funding – Chicago Tribune

Good morning, Chicago.

Illinois announced the first recipients of grant funding Thursday under a new state program intended to bring grocery stores to food deserts. The state announced a total of $7.9 million in grants slated to go toward new stores in areas that lack access to fresh groceries and to existing stores that applied for funding for equipment upgrades.

Among the recipients of funding for new stores is Forty Acres Fresh Market, an Austin grocer that now operates via pop-ups and as a delivery service.

The state awarded $750,000 to Forty Acres for its new bricks-and-mortar store at 5713 W. Chicago Ave.

Reached by phone while running a produce stand at an Austin farmers market Thursday, Forty Acres founder Liz Abunaw described the state grant program as a “game changer” because unlike many grants which must go toward construction and renovation costs, the program allows funds to go toward first-year operational costs such as labor and inventory.

Abunaw said construction on the Forty Acres bricks-and-mortar location was nearing completion, and that she hoped the store could open by early 2025.

Read the full story from the Tribune’s Talia Soglin.

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